Latch.



No. 685,969. Patented Nov. 5, |901.

W. D. CAMPBELL.

LATCH.'

(Application filed May 22.' 1901.) QNo Model.)

@raga/"12 NTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILSON CAMPBELL, OF AUTREYVILLE, GEORGIA. 4

LATCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N o. 685,969, datedNovember 5, 1901.

Application tiled May 22, 1901.

To @ZZ whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILSON D. CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Autreyville, in the county of Golquitt, State of Georgia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lat-ches; and Idohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and eX- actdescription of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

rllhis invention relates to latches ingeneral, and more particularly tothat class used upon sliding car-doors; and it has for its object toprovide a construction which will-be easy and efficient in operation andwherein when the latch is in engaging position there will be two pointsof attachment to the door and two points of attachment to the side ofthe car.

In the drawings forming a portion of this specification, and in whichlike numerals of reference indicate similar parts in the several views,Figure 1 is an elevation showing a portion of a car and its doorequipped with the present invention, the latch being in engagingposition. Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. l and showing the latch partway through the keeper and with the bolt raised by the tongue, thekeeper being broken away. Fig. 3 is a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1.

Referring now to the drawings, there is shown a car 5 having adoor-opening in its side, as is usual in freight-cars, and to coverwhich door-opening there is arranged a laterally-slidable door 6, theend of which is adapted to lie against the jamb 7, with the outer facesof the door and jamb flush. On the jamb is fixed a keeper 8 in the formof a U- shaped plate having the ends of its legs bent outwardly to formattaching-feet, secured to the jamb in the usual manner, and through thelegs of the keeper are formed verticallyalining perforations 9 and 10for a purpose to be presently explained.

Upon the car-door 6 is pivoteda latch 11, at the outer end of which isformed a head 12, and the rear faces of the head, which project bothabove and below the latch, form the abrupt shoulders 13 and 14, of whichthe shoulder 13 is nearer to the free end of the latch than is theshoulder 14. When the door is moved into closed position, the lowerbeveled edge of the head strikes against the upper Serial No. 61.479.llo model.)

face of the lower leg of the keeper 8 and in sliding thereover israised, and when the shoulder 14 has passed the keeper the latch drops,so that the shoulder 14 engages behind the keeper to hold the dooragainst rearward sliding movement.

A guard 16 is disposed over the latch 11, and in the lower edge of thelatch is a notch 17, which when the latch is in engaging positionreceives the adjacent face of the guard, so that if strain is put uponthe door to open it a part of this strain will be upon the guard and itwill not be entirely upon the pivot of the latch.

To hold the door from sliding open if the latch should be thrownupwardly from engagement with the keeper, a bolt 1S is provided, andconsists of a plate having spaced longitudinal slots 19 and 20, throughwhich are passed attaching-bolts 2l, engaged with the jamb of thecar-door, so that the bolt may have vertical sliding movement. This bolthas its lower end beveled and lies normally in such position that whenthe car-door is slid shut the end of the latch strikes the lower beveledend of the bolt and forces it upwardly to permit the latch to passthrough the keeper 8. When the latch has passed into position to engagethe shoulder 14 with the keeper, the shoulder 13 has passed beyond thebolt, and the latter then drops into engagement with the shoulder 13 andholds the latch against withdrawal. If, then, the latch be jolted orotherwise thrown upwardly, the bolt moves with it, but remains inengagement with the shoulder 13. The bolt 18 also serves by its Weightto hold the latch down, and being mounted independently of the keeper itAmakes a most strong and durable construction. It will be seen that whenthe latch is `in its engaged position it has two points of straintending to open the door is correspondingly distributed. It will benoted that the latch has a vertical perforation 20 therein for alinementwith the perforations 9 and 10 to receive a seal-wire when the latch isin engaged position.

What is claimed is- The combination with a car having a door slidablymounted therein, of a keeper mount- IOC ed upon the car, a sliding boltmounted upon the car independently of and beyond the keeper, a latchpivoted upon the door to pass through the keeper when the door isclosed, said latch having a depending projection for engagement behindthe keeper and having a notch in its upper `edge for engagement by thebolt, said latch having also a notch in its lower edge adjacent to itspivot, and a second keeper fastened to the door independently of thelatch, said second keeper being disposed over the latch to engage in thelast-named notch thereof when the depending projection of the latch isengaged behind the first-named keeper.

In testimony whereof I hereunto sign my name, in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses, on the lst day of April, 1901.

WILSON D. CAMPBELL. Vitnesses:

M. A. BETHUNE, D. A. AUTREY.

